Thanks...I did kinda feel the can was the problem..however, I was able to open the circuit box and redid all the connectors, seemed the blk wire was loose, but that did not fix it. Could it be a faulty thermal protector? I guess I can cut that out of the circuit and wire nut it, as my next attempt. But I'm thinking a pinched wire and a fixture by fixture elimination process in the attic..it's a low hip roof and I think I'll just about fit..any other suggestions before I commit to that torture? Thanks in advance...

If the wire nuts were melted, the iron certainly isn't your problem. That particular junction that melted was creating heat - and lots of it. Not everything that creates heat will trip an AFCI - and your iron is a good example. The AFCI is measuring current wave forms and comparing it to "normal" waveforms (like turning on a light or plugging something into an outlet.) If the wave form exceeds the normal in speed and intensity, it trips the breaker. The thing that causes heat is a combination of current and resistance. That could be in the form of the resistance of air (as in an arc) or gunk. Or it could be from higher current flowing through a wire that wasn't designed to handle it (as in a bulb too big for a fixture.) Also, ACFI's break. Have they checked to see if it is actually working?

Holly, You gave incomplete information in your initial post which lead me to believe it was the furnace circuit board that was having the trouble. A carrier infinity system has different levels and different configuration of those levels. You posted back with only the model number of the outdoor unit, which is a variable speed infinity condenser with variable speed compressor. So with this type of unit you have circuit boards in the outdoor condenser to control the AC / DC inverter of the condensing unit and on the furnace you would also have a circuit board that controls the AC/DC inverter of the variable speed blower / or ECM motor. It's very rare for the furnace circuit board to fail on either a full variable speed motor or ECM type motor. Nearly always the motor itself fails. The circuit board for the outdoor unit has 2 heavy loads tied to it, number 1 the compressor, number 2 the condenser fan. The inverter for your outside condenser will generate heat ---a lot of heat. The hotter it is outside, the dirtier it gets the hotter it gets until something fails. In an inverter condenser this is most often the board. I can only assume at this point that it was the circuit board in the outdoor condenser that failed. Which if this is the case would make perfect sense. Other things (besides heat) that can effect electrical components: Loose connections. Electricity will take the path of least resistance. A loose connection is often the tightest when the unit is off. When the unit runs, current flows. There is heat in current. Given a loose connection the heat during operation is hotter than when the apparatus is off this gives expansion and contraction of that loose connection which leads to erratic operation. The expansion occurs while the unit runs, the current flow drops due to the electrical path being disrupted which will give you the feeling of 'brown out' activity. When in fact, it's merely poor wiring. ------------ LED Lighting: Some of this kind of lighting is very finicky in how it needs to be installed. Putting on dimmer switches can cause flickering and possibly even the glow you talk about. Certain LED manufacture's make lighting in which there are no changeable light bulbs. When the light fails you have to replace the entire fixture. Part of the reason for these types of fixtures is that LED bulbs can last a really long time. But manufacture's often stretch the truth in these circumstances as in they will tell you it will last 18 years when more often than not it's 5 or less years. It's still a long time compared to the older incandescent bulbs and a bit longer than the newer flourescent bulbs. An LED bulb doesn't require 120v to operate, where as the older incandescent needed 120v same as flourescent bulb. You have to understand this because the LED bulb itself often isn't what fails. It's the mechanism they use inside the bulb housing they use to drop the voltage from 120v to whatever the voltage requirements are for the LED bulb being used. This is why you have certain LED configurations that will run low volt lighting off a transformer to operate an LED lighting system. You can have mood lighting / every color of the rainbow / different colors for different rooms and so on. However, these kinds of lighting systems are very complex in how they operate and the joke: How many people does it take to change a light bulb? Is taken to new heights. These things are often sold to the home owner under the guise of being a smart home.

So this is all really interesting; what we figured out, (with the help of all of you) is the house, built 10 years ago by dude named Terri, was possibly not wired perfectly. Although I really have not had other problems with it except a propensity for breakers to trip when I run my vacuum cleaners. I buy the house, I do a renovation that was precipitated by a water leak so panel had to be inspected etc. I ask the licensed electrician to add a simple light over the laundry sink, so they were tying that in to an existing 3-way switch on a regular breaker. Not a huge deal.... When they came in the day before inspection to test with AFCI, they were getting the nuisance trip. Journeyman was on the phone for an hour with Mike B the master electrician/owner. So they faked the inspection, and then called me and told me they were removing the breaker and replacing it with a normal one but it was perfectly safe. I think the only reason they bothered to tell me is that I was onsite and working myself and asking questions....plus I had to be there for the inspection and they wanted me to call them "as soon as the inspection was over." They were nervous about it. That's when I told Mike I would like to pay him to do it properly. He never did. Then he became quite difficult showing up to finish the rest of the work, so I am going to give him one more chance before I hire someone else to finish and attempt to back charge him for the work not done. I agree that this will most likely not burn my house down. I have been told that by several electricians at this point (including here) that is the case. But I very well might sell my house sooner rather than later and it will be tough to hide that there was a major renovation within the last few years. Plus the money I was charged! to spend 5K for some minor work and then not have the house to code when you are done seems insane to me. I called L & I and they were all over it. Wanted to send a field inspector out immediately. I declined to give the details and told them I would call them back. It will be difficult for Mike to do business in our valley if word gets out that he fakes electrical inspections with the county. So although I hate to use the "nuclear option" I definitely have some teeth I can use against him if he refuses to finish my job or correct the situation. The county will be pissed and the state will go after him too. He already has a license violation in 2018 for excessive ratio of apprentices to journeymen. (and yes I know this infraction is quite common in the construction world but charging the customer $150/hour for an apprentice is sleazy) Agree with M- he should have honestly described what was doing and and discussed options to correct it instead of lying to me and the inspector. I guess we will see what happens. Thanks.